Because of Time
by Heights93
Summary: AU. Sequel to Last to Know. Elena is sick of being on the run for most of her life. She will get the chance to finish off her past with Kendall, Thayer, Hunter and Keeper.
1. Battle Field

"Hunter! Hunter, tell me what happened!" I said whipping him around to look at me. I heard the door shut behind us. He stared at me angrily like he always did when he was heated after a fight. He reminded me of his father for a second and then that small trace was gone.

I stood my ground and stared back at him. I would demand an answer from him usually, but I knew he wouldn't spill. Now that he's older, he no longer is afraid of me and stands up to me He knew well enough to not talk back to me, but lately that's what he did. I had no fear from my elder son. It'd take a lot for him to intimidate me. He had surpassed me now a few inches with his growth spurt in the summer.

"Nothing," he said wrenching free from my grip. He ran up the stairs. "Nothing happened."

I watched him go up the stairs. I pushed my hair back and sighed heavily. What was wrong with him? It's like fighting on a battle grounds all over again. We couldn't even have a decent conversation without Hunter turning it into a shouting match.

"You're talking to your father tonight," I called up the stairs. "And you're telling him what happened!"

No response. Like I didn't see that coming.

I went into the kitchen to start on dinner. I didn't know how to handle Hunter any more. Even now, with Kendall gone it wasn't making matters any better. It was war in my own house with my own son. About an hour later, Keeper got home from school. I heard the door slam for a second time that day.

"Hi, Mom, what's for dinner?" he asked throwing his bag on the couch and sitting on the stool spinning on it playfully.

"Fish and rice," I said.  
"Yum," he said. "Going to play outside." He hopped off the stool.

"Stay off the streets!" I yelled as I heard the door slam once again.

I hated having Kendall so far away. He was off in New York doing some snooping on some OverSight operatives. I was never okay with him leaving. We got into a nasty fight and he left. Just like that. We both said things we didn't mean and he was almost half way around the world.

Later on that evening, I called Keeper in as the sun was setting. As he ran up the stairs I yelled out, "Get your brother!"

Seconds later I heard him come down stairs again and he reappeared on the stool. His jeans had grass stains and his hands were dirty.

"Hunter said he doesn't want to come down stairs," Keeper told me.

Was that so? He was trying to avoid me at all costs.

"Wash your hands," I said as I headed up the stairs. His door was sealed shut. I knocked on the door.

"Come down and eat," I said. No response. I leaned in to listen just in case I couldn't hear him. I knocked again.

"I don't want to go," he snapped from the other side. My anger got the best of me and wanted to kick down the door and drag my fourteen year old son down the stairs, but I didn't. I composed myself.

"Fine," I said. "Stay up here then." I went down stairs. Keeper and I ate together. He told me some stuff that happened at his school today. Unlike his brother, he actually didn't mind talking to me. Sure, they both missed their father, but Keeper was the least affected.

As Keeper did homework, I cleaned the kitchen and washed dishes. It was pretty quiet. The windows were open and a warm breeze passed through. Hunter finally came down stairs. I dried off my hands ready to face him once again. Keeper looked up at us.

"Are you ready to talk to me?" I asked.

"No," Hunter said.

"Quit treating me like I'm the enemy!"

"You are the enemy!"

"You wish I was the enemy! I'd treat you much worse if I was!"

"You can't even keep the family together! What does that say about you?"

"That I'm doing the best I can while your father is out. And all you're doing is making things one hundred times worse for you and me!"

Keeper looked at us with huge fearful eyes. He knew we were saying things we shouldn't have said. Everything in me wanted to spank Hunter just like when he was a child. Then all of a sudden a faint beeping came from my bag in the living room.

"Keeper, go get it. It's probably for you," I said my eyes still on my elder son. Instead of staring me down, Hunter looked away and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. We sat in the kitchen in silence waiting for Keeper to return. Fifteen minutes later he did. Hunter left the kitchen to go speak with Kendall.

"Dad said he'd be back soon," Keeper said. He got back to his homework. It irritated me that Kendall kept on telling his sons that. It's been well over year since he left and he always told him the same. I got up and walked to the arch way that lead to the living room.

'Why can't I go with you?" Hunter pleaded with his dad.

"It's not stable where I am," I heard Kendall say. "I'm always on the move, never staying in one place. You belong with your Mom."

"Are you and Mom splitting up?" Hunter asked his voice changing almost a mumble.

"No, Hunt, no. Your mom and I aren't splitting up, we just need time apart. Go get her, I want to talk to her."

I entered on cue as Hunter rose from the couch. He walked out of the room and I took a seat in front of my laptop. I saw his lips almost turn into a smile and then it was gone. My heart ached at just looking at him. His hair was a bit out of place and he needed to shave. He looked tired.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I said. "How's the search?"

"Fine," he said running his hand through his hair. "Just doing some mapping on this guy. I talked to Hunter."

"I don't know how you do it," I said. "He keeps shutting me out."

"Because he knows _we're_ shutting him out," Kendall corrected. "We're going to have to tell them both soon."

"Just come home."

"I can't."

"Damn it, Kendall!" My anger striking once again, I shut my laptop. Why couldn't he just come back home and leave it to someone else? I went up to my room with the laptop under my arm. For the rest of the night the house was silent. I sighed.

I got ready for bed and sneaked into bed quietly to not disturb the silence. I fell into a deep uneasy sleep. Half way through the night I bolted up in my bed. The house was on fire! I grabbed the collar of my shirt and put it up to my nose. I jumped out of bed grabbed my bag from under my bed and dashed out of the room.

Hunter and Keeper were in the hallway, coughing and scared.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" I yelled over the fire. I lead them down the stairs. The whole house was on fire. How would I get them out safely? I looked around. The rug! It still hadn't caught on fire. I rushed forward and grabbed it.

"Listen," I told them. "I'm going to kicked down the front door and smother the fire. It'll give you just enough time to jump over me and get out."

"But-" Hunter started.

"Don't worry about me," I said. "I'll be fine."

I turned and moved closer to the door. The flames were enormous, I had to get them out. I kicked the door and quickly threw the rug over the flames. Hunter and Keeper ran out of the house. I crawled out into the porch and away from the fire. The rug was swallowed in the flames.

"Mom, look out!" Hunter yelled.

I threw myself off the porch and into the grass just in time to see a piece of the roof fall just where I was.

"Mom are you okay?" Keeper asked coming to help me up. There was a nasty scrape on my knees, but I didn't pay attention.

"Let's get out of here," I said. The Jeep was luckily parked out front. I opened the door for Keeper to get in. Someone shot at us and the broke the rear view mirror.

"Get in!" I yelled closing the door. I grabbed a gun from inside the bag. They were getting any where near my boys. More shots rang out and I ducked under the tall grass. The shooting was coming from the trees.

They were luring me away from my kids. Those bastards! I followed though. I shot two guys in the back. One came from my left. I ducked again. I got a good aim on her and I killed her.

"Mom!" Hunter called out.

I ran back before any more tried to lure me away. I hopped into the seat and drove off. My hands were shaking out of anger more than anything. I thought this was over!

"Who were they? Why were they shooting at us?" Hunter asked me.

"Shut up!" I said. "Let me think, okay?"

We drove in silence to the other side of the island. We had a small place just in case something like this happened.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked looking at my rear view mirror. I saw Keeper's face tired and scared. My heart sank a little.

"I'm okay," Hunter said.

"Me too," Keeper replied.

We got to the safe house and they went to clean up and went to bed. I was going to call Kendall. It should be morning over there. He'd have to answer me. I dialed.


	2. Now They Know

"Kendall," I said.

"El, what's wrong?" he asked. Before I knew it I was crying. I was angry with what just happened and most importantly that he wasn't here. "You look like a mess. What happened?"

"Why the hell aren't you here!" I yelled at him."We were under attack tonight and you weren't here! Our house was burned down and I had to fight them off by myself a-and you weren't here!"

"Baby, I'm sorry," Kendall said gently. "I'll come home right now."

"You should have never left in the first place," I said coldly trying to compose myself.

"I'm coming home, okay? I'll be there in a few hours. I'm coming, El."

He logged off and I did too. I stayed guard for the rest of the night to make sure we weren't followed and we wouldn't be under attack again. I grabbed a blanket and laid on the couch. Hours passed and the sun began to rise. I looked at my gun on the coffee table. So much for letting go of OverSight. We were in the clear for years now.

Hunter came down stairs. I looked over at him. He came to sit by me.

"Mom, I'm sorry about yesterday," Hunter apologized.

"It's okay," I said sitting up.

"I thought we were going to die," he admitted. "That we weren't going to get out alive."

"Of course you were going to get out alive, I wouldn't let anything happen to you or Keeper," I said. "I love both of you too much." I stroked his cheek. Normally, that would make him flush with embarrassment, but instead he bit his lip.

"I've never seen you with a gun before," he said looking at me. "or kill someone."

"Hunter-" I started.

Outside I could hear propellers come to a stop. Hunter and I looked up. Kendall was here.

"Go get your brother," I said as we both stood. He didn't have to. Keeper rushed down the stairs and bolted out of the doors. Hunter followed. I wasn't as eager to see Kendall as I thought I would be. I cleaned my scrapes lightly before going back out to greet Kendall. By the time I had come out the boys were inside the house.

"Looks like a nasty scrape," Kendall said as I approached.

"Nasty fight too," I said.

"But you won," he said reaching out to me.

"Just barely," I said taking his hand. He pulled me close to him. I tried to keep my mind on how angry I was, but I knew that wouldn't last long. "Am I allowed to come home?"

"It depends," I said. "Are you willing to stay?"

"As long as you want me," he said looking down at me. He kissed me and I kissed him back. Remembering that our kids were watching, I pulled away. Kendall looked at our boys. "Take a seat guys. We a few things to tell you."

The boys sat down looking at us concerned. He grabbed my knee and whispered, "I'm glad to be home." I smiled a little. We looked at our kids.

"Your mother and I were trained assassins," Kendall told me. "We worked for a black ops program called OverSight. We were trained on every fighting style, make our bodies into a dangerous weapon and use any weapon to our advantage." He paused. "Your mom was the first one to leave. Then Thayer. Then me. And Toby. What they were doing was wrong. They were killing off all the wrong people."

"That's were you were, right Dad?" Hunter leaned in interested.

Kendall gave a nod.

"Well, most of them are gone, but they're still out there trying to reform, still trying to kill us," I said. "That's why those people were shooting at me."

There was a silence for a moment. Kendall let my hand go and stood.

"Where are you going?" I asked standing to and grabbed his hand.

"We're going to need fuel for the return trip."

"I thought you were staying?"

"It's better if we all leave this place." He kissed my cheek and left.

Kendall left the house. The boys and I got up and went to fix our selves breakfast. I poured myself a large cup of coffee. The first time in a year I felt a little relieved like I felt safe again. Now that he was here things were bound to get better.

"Mom?" Hunter asked.

"Hmm?" I asked setting the mug down and the the liquid slid down my throat.

"How, how did you get involved with OverSight?" he asked me.

"It started when I was a kid," I said thinking back decades before. "I was in the foster system here in Hawaii. After bouncing home to home, I left to live in the streets. I did what I did to support myself. I stole for food and clothes. Then an old friend gave me the idea to rob a bank when I was thirteen."

I chuckled a little at that humiliating memory. "And I got caught. I mean what was I thinking, I couldn't rob a bank in thirteen! They were about to throw me back in the system when a man offered to take me away. He said it was a way to have a home and earn money. He said I wouldn't have to bounce to home to home anymore. He offered me a permanent home"

"Who was he?" Keeper asked.

"Kasim Huessin," I said. "He ran OverSight. Trickiest son of a bitch I ever ran into. He told me all I wanted to hear."

"Alright, get ready," I said noticing how intently they listened to me. "If you boys want to leave with your father get your stuff ready."

Keeper and Hunter went to go pack. I knew they didn't have much, but they had more than I did. My mind wasn't set on my possessions. I had to make sure I had my guns and the ammo. I had a small bag with two sets of clothes. I shouldered my bag and went outside. Kendall had returned and was pushing in a barrel of what I assumed was fuel for the jet.

"Sometimes I think nothing phases you," he said as I approached.

"Oh yeah?" I asked crossing my arms. "Why's that?"

He stopped and looked at me. "Time treats you well. You haven't changed a bit in the year that I've been gone."

"Yeah, well, you're still the sly, cocky, slick talking, prick from before," I said. I decided to change the subject. I would not have him sway me. "How'd it go with tracking the operative?"

"Cocky prick? I guess I deserve that. All I care is about you and the boys, right now. You need me," Kendall said coming over to me.

I didn't respond.

"Come on, don't say you didn't miss me," he said putting his arms around me. " 'Cause I missed you, El." He leaned in and kissed me. I kissed him back a little.

"Mom, Dad we're ready," Hunter said coming out of the house with Keeper behind him.

"I'm almost done," Kendall told them. He kissed me on the lips and returned to the jet. In about half an hour we were up in the sky. Hunter and Keeper knew Kendall was a fair flier, but they never knew why or how he came to be. They didn't ask questions and after our confession they probably had some idea now.

We got to the main land and landed some where in New York. He made a smooth landing on top of a building. I never knew where he established a home here, but I had a feeling I was about to find out. Turns out, Kendall had his own pent house here in New York. It was much more luxurious than our home in Hawaii.

"There's a couple extra rooms down the hall," Kendall told the boys. "Take your pick."

Eagerly, they went off to choose a room and settled in. Kendall and I had our own set of riches stowed away. After we had taken down Kasim, we divided up his overseas bank account. Same thing with Angelina. With all that wealth distributed to only Kendall, Toby, Thayer and a few others we were well off into the millions. We didn't want to spoil our kids though. We wanted to give them what we didn't have is all.

"You went all out, didn't you?" I asked as Kendall and I got ready for bed. His mater bedroom was beautiful and twice the size of our old bedroom back home.

"I pulled some string and called in favors as I flew over to Hawaii," he said coming into bed. "You deserve the best, El. You and the kids."

I lay on my side, my back towards him.

"Look, El, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say so you'll forgive me," Kendall said. "I'm back and that's what's important."

"The point is it still hurts," I mumbled. "You left and you weren't planning to come back until you thought you were ready." I turned slightly and lay on my back. He stared at me leaning on his elbow.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. He leaned in and our lips connected. My arms immediately slid behind his neck holding him close to me. He pulled me over onto him.


	3. New York

The next morning I woke up on Kendall's warm chest. I could hear his deep breathing. At least the sexual tension was gone. I haven't been this pleased since before he left. I yawned widely and I grabbed his hand. All the anger and uncertainty that I had felt yesterday was long gone. I was just happy he was home.

"Good morning," he mumbled lacing his hands in mine.

"Morning," I said.

"So I take it I'm forgiven?"

"If you're asking if you're in my good graces-"

"I am."

"Well, you have a foot in the door."

"That's a good start, but I think I got more than a foot in the door," he said with a chuckle. I heard the rumble deep in his chest. I looked up at him and we kissed deeply. He wrapped his arms around me. I pulled away.

"I should go get breakfast started," I said getting up.

"No, El," Kendall said still holding me. "The boys are old enough to feed themselves. Stay here in bed, huh?"

"Then who's going to get you breakfast?" I challenged.

"I don't need anything. I don't _want_ anything. I just want you." I looked down at him. He really needed to stop using such wonderful words that I wanted to hear. I kissed his lips. He held my face in his hands. There was a knock on the door. I pulled away and laid beside him.

"Come in," Kendall said wrapping his arm around me.

Hunter popped his head in. "We need food. Place is totally empty."

"Alright, we'll go shopping in a bit," Kendall told him.

Hunter closed the door. I cuddled beside him.

"I told you we should get up," I whispered.

"Alright, come on," he said and we both got up and got ready. I dressed in my jeans and a t-shirt that I had brought in a bag.

We left the pent house to go grocery and clothes shopping. I gathered some more jeans and t-shirts and blouses. New York was in the midst of the fall so I figured I'd need a jacket. Boots were always my thing so I bought a couple pairs. Once I was done I had to find clothes for the boys. They were rather picky with clothes just like their dad.

Then we went to grab groceries. Everyone put boxes and cans into the cart. Kendall pushed the cart and grabbed my hand as he lead the way down the aisle.

"You know I think, we should train Hunter and Keeper," Kendall said. "Show the some self defense, simple computer hacking, shoot with a gun."

"You're sounding like Kasim," I said.

"I just want them to be prepared for anything that can happen," he insisted.

"Fine," I said. "But not the guns. They don't need them. You and I will do the killing. They don't need to kill anyone, not at this age."

We headed back home with nearly a hundred bags. As I put the groceries away, the boys put their clothes away.

"Where should I put your stuff?" Keeper asked me holding a couple of bags of mine.

"In Kendall's and my room. I'll fix it later," I told him. He walked off and I saw Hunter put some more bags in my room.

Later on in the late afternoon, Kendall took us up to the roof. His jet was still up here and it had a magnificent view of New York City and a small creek.

"What are we doing up here?" Hunter asked Kendall.

"We told you about OverSight," he said. "It's time we show you a bit of what we know. Just in case time decides to be unfair."

Seeing Kendall train Hunter and Keeper brought back old memories. He was once again Kendall the recruit leader not my husband nor the father of my sons. It was like I was back in time. I listened to Kendall once again teach and talk about how to move your body and the easiest way to think.

"It's about agility and letting your body defend itself naturally. You'll know what to do when you're in that certain situation," Kendall lectured. We had spent days and weeks perfecting their technique, showing them what to do. Keeper was more mechanical with his moves, it could make him predictable. Hunter was more fluid and got it quite easy. Some days I would come up and watch and other days I'd stay indoors. "Don't be afraid to hurt me, I'm posing as an enemy, a threat. Those OverSight operatives will want to kill you. Why? 'Cause you're my blood!"

One day, he pulled out a hand gun from his belt.

"Kendall!" I snapped.

"It's not loaded," Kendall said. "Just a little lesson to take the gun when it's in range."

I watched as Hunter and Keeper struggled with the next task. I concluded that they couldn't accompany us on missions. I decided to express my concern to Kendall one night.

"They can't join us in missions," I said as we prepared some emergency bags one night.

"I know" he told me. "I thought the same. Marlon's the closest person around. He's in Delaware with his family. We need to settle down for the boys."

"We were fine until you left," I said as I loaded a gun and put it in the bag.

"I won't leave you ever again, I promise," he said taking my hand. "Nothing in this world will make me leave you, El, got it?"

I smiled weakly. I felt a little better. We developed a permanent residence here in New York and the boys went to school. Kendall wanted to be a pilot, but he turned it down when he figured out he'd be gone for days at a time. He didn't want to be much time away from us.

"You love to fly," I said one day as we had target practice up on the roof. "Go on ahead. We can take care of ourselves if you leave for days at a time."

"It's cool, El, really," Kendall said. "I don't mind staying here. Maybe I can find a place where I can fix planes and jets."

"You sure?" I asked as I set down my gun and the protective glasses.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine with it."

Now that Kendall was home, Hunter and I were in better terms. He and I didn't have any more screaming matches. He got around to talking to me sometimes too.

"See you later, Mom," Keeper called out as he and Hunter left the house. I waved them off and as the door closed my cell phone rang out.

"Hello?" I asked answering.

"Hey, El!" came Thayer's cheerful voice. "Where are you? I've been calling your place this past month."

"We relocated to New York," I said washing the dishes. "We were under attack." I broke into what happened a couple months ago.

"I'm glad you guys are okay," Thayer said. "I'm glad to hear Kendall is back too."

"Yeah, well what about you?" I asked.

"Same old stuff. Listen I'll talk to you later. I'm heading off to work," he said. We both hung up. Thayer was still a good friend of ours. He was also Hunter's godfather. We hadn't had much contact with him in a long time. Kendall never had a particular liking to him and I never forced them to get along. He also flew out to Hawaii one time to make sure the boys and I were okay. No doubt I was grateful.


	4. The Knight

I went out for groceries in the afternoon. As I returned, Kendall was already home and on the phone with someone.

"Wait, she just got here," Kendall said. "Hold on." He handed me the phone. I took it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, El," came Toby's familiar voice. "I got some good news for you!"

"Alright, let me hear it."

"I found your birth certificate. It's got your birth parents names on it. You want to come and get it?"

"No, no," I said excitedly. "Just tell me their names. I'll do my own research here."

"You got something to write with?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, your mother's name is Lena Wattana. Father's name is Kasey Knight."

"Thanks."

"Good luck." We hung up and I darted over to my room. This was the first time I heard my parents names. I had no idea where they may be or who they were, but I had to return to Hawaii. There had to be some kind of clue there to who they were.

"Where are you going?" Kendall asked sharply as I pulled out a duffel bag out of the closet.

"Back to Hawaii," I said.

"Are you insane?" he asked me. "There could be OverSight operatives waiting for you at the airport."

"Doubt it."

"Chill, okay? What'd Toby say?"

"He found my birth certificate with my biological parents names on it," I said looking at him. He looked at me in the eyes thinking.

Something similar happened to him a couple years ago. Except he had run away from home at a young age. When he returned, his parents didn't want to know anything about him. My in-laws aren't the most friendly of people. I see why Kendall ran away.

"I'm going with you," he said.

"No, you stay. I don't want to pull the boys out of school," I said.

"I'll find you the next flight out of here," he said going over to the computer on the bed.

I packed a couple sets of clothes and disguised some guns because I knew they wouldn't let me carry weapons on the plane. Then I carefully placed some hidden guns in my boots and another around my waist. I stashed ammo too.

"Hello!" called Keeper's happy voice.

"In here," Kendall said. The boys came in. Hunter took quick notice that I was packing.

"Where are you going?" he asked me.

"I got some unfinished business back home in Hawaii," I said. "Kendall, did you find a flight?"

"Yeah, it leaves in three hours. We need to get you to the airport," he said.

I zipped up my bag and turned to look at Hunter and Keeper.

"Listen to your father. I'll be back in a couple days," I told them.

"Don't open the door to any one and don't call any one," Kendall said as he picked up my bag. "I'm going to go take your mother to the airport." They hugged me and Kendall and I left. He and I took the subway down town and a taxi to the airport.

"You come back in three days," he reminded me. "If you need anything I'll come and get you in a heart beat. If it's really that bad Toby is in Colorado."

"Okay, okay," I said. "We'll video chat once I get settled in." They allowed him to walk me to the gate.

"Take care out there, baby," he said and we hugged tightly. He kissed my lips. I pulled away, but he came back and we continued to kiss. They announced my flight. I pulled away.

"It'll only be a couple days," I promised. I kissed his lips and hurried off to my plane. The trip to Hawaii was long and tedious. I used my free time to find out more information about my parents.

Not much was about my mother, all I got was the year she died somewhere in California. She died in Hawaii a year after my birth, but was brought to the main land to be buried. There was no picture available for me to see.

There was much more on my father though. He was once part of the U.S naval base in Hawaii. I assumed that's how my parents met. After ten years of being in the navy, he disappeared. No record from him any where it was like he died too or went underground.

"I couldn't find anything," I said. "My mother died and Knight is wiped out of the earth like he just stopped existing."

"I'll look him up and see what I can find. I'll get back to you soon," he said.

"Much appreciated," I said. Kendall texted me my hotel arrangements and I took a taxi to the hotel. Once I got settled in, I called back home to check in with them. Keeper was the first to answer.

"Hey Mom!" he said happily.

"Hey, Keep," I said. "Everything okay over there?"

"Yup, Dad burned dinner, but I think we'll be okay," he chuckled. I smiled. Hunter came to sit by Keeper. He waved at me.

"Hey Mom you made it!" he said happily. "How was your flight?"

"Long and boring," I said. "Let me talk to your father, guys."

"He's taking a shower," Hunter asked.

"Tell him I checked in then," I said. We hung up and I ordered room service. I did some more research.

I tried to navigate my way to hacking into the old OverSight data base, but it didn't work out for me. Toby was the IT guy, I was just the assassin. That's why I depended on Toby so much. He knew it all. Early the next morning, I got a call from him. I was in bed when he called.

"Hello?" I asked my voice still groggy from sleep.

"Elena, I found Kasey Knight on the data base. He was an OverSight eliminator."

I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Huh?" I asked. "What's that?" I yawned widely.

"Eliminators are very high up class in the rank. They're the highest in rank. Don't you remember the sequence?"

"Yeah," I said pushing my hair back. "Recruit, apprentice, field agent, guardian, spy, hacker, eliminator. Weren't eliminators who killed off any back stabbers in OverSight?"

"Exactly!" Toby said. "It says he's been activated for about twenty years and ever since the base was taken out he wasn't even considered deactivated. He was stationed in Hawaii since then. I'm sending you his address to your phone. Good luck, El."

"Thanks." We hung up.

I took a quick shower, had breakfast and picked up my bag. I left to go find the place. As I approached the place I realized where I was going. The address belong to the city hall. I had walked by it plenty of times in my years that I lived here. It seemed to be closed. I knocked. Nothing. I knocked again. A girl in her twenties opened the door.

"May I help you?" she asked. "Hey! You're the woman who's house burned down a couple months ago."

"I came to see Mr. Kasey Knight," I said.

"Who's looking for him?" she asked.

"Elena."

"One moment," she said. She shut the door. I waited outside until she returned. I had no idea what Knight was doing in city hall. I don't recall him being in the city council. The door opened.

"He's willing to see you," she said letting me in. I followed her into the building. We passed by the secretaries and into offices. She stopped at a door and let me in. The man was sitting behind a desk signing away at papers. Once he heard the doors close, he looked up at me.

"May I help you?" he asked gesturing for me to sit. I declined his offer and stood.

"I'm a rouge agent."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" I snapped angrily.

"I'm sorry, but I do not take any part in OverSight anymore."

"I'm not here because of OverSight."

"Then please tell me what you want before I call security."

"I'm your daughter!"

He looked at me intently as if he could see right through me. Then he gave up just like that. He continued to look at the documents in front of him.

"No, Kasim said you died," he said.

"Kasim lied," I said sitting in front of his desk.

"Why would Kasim lie to me?" he asked looking up at me, irritated.

"Because I would be a distraction," I said. "And my mother, she'd have been a distraction too/"

"No, you're lying," he said. "I saw the baby. It was dead. It destroyed Lena to see her dead daughter taken away from her."

"You were an eliminator, Kasim wouldn't want you to slip up on your job!" I insisted.

He continued working. Obviously, I wasn't going to get any where with this man. What ever Kasim did to convince my father that he lost his daughter, he most certainly accomplished it. There was no point in talking to him any more.

"I'm sorry I wasted your time," I said rising. I walked over to the door. I grabbed the door handle.

"Wait," said his voice behind me. I turned to look at him. He was pointing a gun at me.

"So, you're the runt who caused OverSight so much trouble back in the day?" he asked with a small smirk. "Why doesn't it surprise me? Kasim told me it was my own flesh and blood who was causing so many problems. I didn't believe him. Never thought you'd be a good soldier like me, Elena."

He walked over and I raised my hands to show I was at his mercy. So he was just playing me the whole time. Great.

"Why'd you come here anyway?" he asked.

"Well, it wasn't for your blessing," I said.

A shot rang out and he and I threw ourselves onto the ground. I grabbed my secret gun out of my boots and waited until the shooting stopped. Knight shot at me and I slid behind his desk.

"Operatives have always been searching for you," he said. "Never thought you'd be only a couple blocks from me. Imagine how they will reward me when I capture my own daughter and turn her in."

"I'm no ones reward," I said and shot at him. He was hiding behind his love seat near the door.

"I'm an eliminator," he said shooting at me with deadly precision. "Everything you know, I know and more. You don't stand a chance against me."

His bullets whizzed past my ears, head and arms. Any second, I would have died but luck was on my side. They would glide past me. This was not how I wanted to die. Any minutes now someone would come and see what was happening.

Something hit the window and landed in front of my father. It was a grenade! Oh no. I covered my head and heard it explode. Glass shattered and dust and wall parts flew apart.


	5. Escaped

"Elena!" came a familiar voice. I looked up to find Kendall outside of the window. I got up and jumped out.

"What are you doing here?" I asked surprised and we hugged. He lead me out of the bushes as he explained.

"I couldn't just let you come alone, after I talked myself into coming out here a couple hours you left I did," he said. Cars were arriving. OverSight cars.

"Damn it!" Kendall yelled pulling out his gun. Operatives came out with their guns raised. This could not be happening. We couldn't be captured. I had my back against his. I was willing to die fighting.

"Drop your weapons," one said as another came closer to zip tie our hands together. They threw us in the back of a truck and zip tied our hands to a beam in the van.

I tried to tug on the zip ties. No use. We had to get out as soon as possible. I looked over at Kendall. He was bringing up his foot to his head.

"Kendall, what are you-" I started.

"Got it!" he said happily as he pulled out a tiny blade from his heal of his shoe. He sliced his way out of his zip tie. He rubbed his wrists. I forgot how resourceful Kendall was. He was always getting out of sticky situations.

He came over to me and cut me free. We hugged.

"It was a trap," I said still holding him tight.

"I know, baby, I know," he muttered. "We'll get them later, but right now we have to go."

He went over to the back doors. He grabbed on to the beam. Kendall held on.

"I don't hear any cars in the back," he said. He kicked open the doors. I was worried who ever was driving might have heard that.

"Ready?" he asked me. He reached out a hand to me.

"Yeah," I said taking it. He put an arm around me and we jumped. We rolled on to the ground. He held me until we stopped rolling.

"You okay?" he asked me getting up.

"Yeah, I think so," I said also getting up to my feet.

He had a nasty gash on his forehead and covered in dirt. I probably didn't look any better. I had pretty bad gashes of my own.

"Come on," he said leading me into the trees. We ran off, the farther we were off the better. We weren't far from the town. We'd be back in no time.

"Let's bolt," I said. "I don't need anything from the hotel. It's all in my bag." I shook my bag from my shoulders.

"Yeah, but I'm bleeding too much," he said wiping blood off his forehead. So we returned to hotel room to clean ourselves up before leaving. Since we were here I put some stuff in my bag.

"Aaahh! It stings!" Kendall snapped as I cleaned his gash with a disinfectant.

"Stop being such a baby," I said a little amused and held his shoulder down so he wouldn't stand and leave. "You stopped bleeding, I just need to keep you clean."

We were quiet. He didn't bother to complain again.

"I'm glad you came," I told him. He pulled me onto his lap.

"I'm glad I made it in time," he said.

"What about the kids? Where'd you leave them?"

"With Toby. We'll have to swing by to pick them up."

I checked out of the hotel and we went off to get his jet. He had parked it in a lonely harbor on the water. It was a pretty well hidden harbor. It hid behind large sand dunes. He had his smaller jet this time. He helped me on. He had us up in the air in no time. I sat beside him as he drove the plane.

Kendall had multiple jets around the world and most of them stashed at our friends house. It was a good idea to have them. We never know when we were going to need them.

"Elena, I think we should go back into hiding," Kendall said. "It isn't safe for us any more. We just can't keep on dragging ourselves off and leaving the boys behind."

"You're right," I said and we held hands. He had a point. We were out in the open. We can't be exposed like that any more. They were the most important people right now. Their safety was my biggest concern. If I got captured, they should still be safe.

"We'll find a big house with lots of land where OverSight will never find us," he said. "Maybe we can start our own farm or something?" I smiled. I couldn't help, but feel a bit amused hearing his enthusiasm. I leaned in and kissed his lips. He kissed me back and then pulled away.

"This can not be safe," he said. I laughed and his monitors went wild.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Something came up on my radar," he said checking. "I think it's another plane. Buckle yourself."

I put on the seat belt.

"Shit!" he said sounding really alarmed.

"What id it?" I asked.

"Two fighter jets are coming our way."

"What!"

"Shit, this isn't a fighter plane. Damn it!"

"What should we do?"

"Get a parachute. I'm going to try and fly us closer to the main land. Once we get close enough they'll fly into U.S airways and that will send a trigger to a air force base there."

I unbuckled myself and went to grab a parachute in a cabinet behind his seat. There was only two left. I put mine on and grabbed the other for Kendall.

"Hold on," he said quickly. "They're firing a missile!"

I grabbed onto an empty seat. The small jet thrust into a harsh spin to avoid the missile. I could still feel the explosion, but luckily it wasn't us who got hit.

"Please don't do that again," I said stumbling over to my seat.

He flew down under the clouds. I could see the blue water below us. I reached over to help him put on his parachute.

"I got it!" he said. "They're sounding another missile. Hold on!" He quickly put the parachute on his lap and steered the jet out of the way.

I closed my eyes. I felt the jet do another horrible flip.

"Mayday, mayday, we're going down!" he called into the radio and then we were hit. I screamed and I was thrust into the air.

"Kendall!" I screamed. He didn't have his parachute. I saw him in the air to. I reached over to him and then he was out of my sights. Then I was falling rapidly back onto the earth. I never got to see Kendall hit the water. I crashed into the water. The parachute was dragging me down so I took it off. I swam up to the surface.

"Kendall!" I yelled. "Kendall!" I ducked under water to see if he was still under. Once I couldn't hold my breath I surfaced. I looked up into the sky. The fighter planes were long gone. Kendall had flown us close enough to the shore.

I swam over. I haven't swam in a long time not since OverSight where they made us swim miles at times for our training.

I pulled myself out of the water and I was freezing cold. I looked along the shore to see if Kendall had made it. I was freaking out. If something happened to him I would loose it. I wouldn't be able to face my kids alone.

"Kendall!" I screamed into the distance. I felt a lump in my throat and tears were going down my cheeks before I knew it. "Kendall!" It was almost dark out. If I didn't find him I'd be in a state of panic very soon.

"Elena!" came his faint voice to my left. I saw him coming out of the water. I ran over relieved and tackled him back into the water. We kissed.

"I thought I lost you," I said pulling away. "We're getting a fighter plane you hear me, Kendall Thorne?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said and kissed me deeply. After we were relieved with what happened, we set out to find a coastal high way. We walked for a couple miles to a rest area. I was still cold.

"I don't think you'll oppose to Grand Theft Auto?" he asked pointing to a old large red truck parked in a restaurant. I shook my head. I stood as look out. He managed to open the truck and hot wired the truck effortlessly. In no time, we were on our way. I looked to see if they had anything useful in the truck, but there wasn't anything.

"Come here," Kendall said opening his arm as he drove. "I need some warmth too." I cuddled beside him trying to warm up my moist clothes. I blew into my cold hands.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Thayer has a small place down south. We can get there in a couple hours to change and get ready to head out again."

"Will that be long?"

"No. You want to get to Hunter and Keeper, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Me too."

We drove for hours as it got dark. I lay my head on his shoulder and watched the road pass us by. Some time later we got to a house near the water.

"We should be safe," Kendall said helping me out of the truck.

"Should? Why is it we can't shake them off? Why is it they won't give up?" I said. We walked into the house and I did feel a little better.

"Calm down, huh?" he said wrapping his arms around my hips. "We should be safe. We'll get Hunter and Keeper and scram, okay?"

"What about Kasey?" I asked.

"He's not important. Forget him."

I gave a nod. He was right. I was too overwhelmed to think about anything. I was just overreacting. I wasn't thinking straight.

"Go take a shower and rest, okay?" Kendall suggested and grabbed my chin. "Sleep on it. You'll feel better in the morning."

I went down the hall to take a quick shower. Dirt, blood and sand swiveled down the drain. I dried my hair and put on some of Thayer's wife's clothes. They fit me perfectly. I went into the spacious guest room. It was a pretty nice room. Kendall had the fireplace going. I sat on the bed.

"There wasn't much in the fridge," he said coming in with spaghetti and meatballs.

"It's fine," I said. We ate together quietly. He finished before me and kissed my lips before he went to go take a shower.

Toby had encrypted a several dozen laptops so we could all be connected no matter where we were. There had to be some where here in the house. I looked around the house. I found the laptop under the bed in the master bedroom. I decided to call Toby. He answered right away.

"Elena!" he said relieved. "My God, are you guys okay? "

"Oh you know the usual," I said. "Got surrounded by operatives, escaped captivity, got shot down from the sky and hiked a couple miles. The works."

He smiled a little.

"Everyone was worried," he told me.

"I found him."

"Your dad?"

I nodded.

"How'd it go?"

"He sold me out. He's still OverSight."

"I'm sorry, El."

"How are the boys?"

"They're worried, but they're fine. They fell asleep a couple hours ago. You want me to go get them?"

"No, let them sleep. Let them dream and be in a safe place their mind can only take them."

Kendall came in with sweat pants and a towel around his neck. He came over to sit by me and looked into the computer. They waved at each other.

"You alright Kenny boy?" Toby asked him.

"Now I am," Kendall said and kissed my hair.

"When do you think you guys will get here?" Toby asked.

"I don't know tomorrow evening," Kendall said looking at me. I nodded in agreement. That sounded about right.

"Alright," he said. "We'll be waiting for you guys. Get some rest." We logged off. I closed the the laptop and set it on the night table.

Kendall picked me up and kissed me. I pulled away.

"Kendall, not here. This isn't the place," I said as he laid me down.

He made me look into his eyes.

"Twice in one day we could have died and I could have lost you or vice versa. I think we deserve a little something," he said.

He kissed me and I kissed him back. I wrapped my arms around his neck. Well, I guess he had a point and I wasn't one to argue.


	6. House on the Moon

The next morning Kendall held me close and we kissed deeply.

"Alright," I said. "At this pace we're never leaving this place. Come on."

"You have to ruin all the fun," he said as I sat up. I snorted.

As I prepared to leave, Kendall took the liberty to change the license plates on the truck we were borrowing. We estimated the trip to be about twelve hours or so. In about half an hour, we were on the road.

As Kendall drove, he and I made plans on what to do after we got Hunter and Keeper.. We were going to have to change a lot of things in order to keep our boys safe. It was definitely going to be a challenge since they were so accustomed to living a free life. Around seven or eight in the evening we got to the border of Colorado. I knew he lived some where near the border, it couldn't be far from now.

He lived in a pretty secluded place. The large nice homes were a couple acres apart, ranch style. I kind of liked it. You could have all that place and have privacy. No one would bother you and you could live in your own world. We pulled up a gravel drive way.

The porch light was on. I got out of the car before the engine was cut. Hunter and Keeper ran out of the house.

"Mom!" they yelled out relieved. I opened my arms and they ran into my arms. I held them tight. It killed me to be so far from them. I never wanted to be that far from them ever again. I knew they were afraid for us and I never wanted to give them that much grief ever again.

"Dad!" Keeper said and ran over to Kendall.

"Are you okay?" Hunter asked me holding me at a distance. "Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine" I said feeling touched that my son worried about me. "Everything's okay now." He hugged me once more before going to his dad.

Toby came outside.

"Gave us quite a scare," he told me as he came down the porch. I shrugged.

"What can I say?" I asked. "I just like messing with people." He smiled and I hugged my old friend. His wife Paula came out along with their two kids Jen and Robbie.

"You guys should stay here for the night," Paula told us.

"I don't know," Kendall said coming by my side and looked down at me.

"We should go," I said.

"Sorry, I ain't having it," Toby said. "You're staying here and you're leaving tomorrow morning. You guys must be tired being on the road. Find a place from here and have it bought so you have a place to go to where ever you're planning to go."

So we stayed. Paula set up the guest room for the boys and Kendall and I offered to sleep in the living room. It wasn't like the old days, but it was safe just the same. Toby let us borrow his laptop so we could browse homes in the later hours of the night. We also took the liberty to buy furniture and have it delivered to the house.

"We can't go to New York," Kendall said. "Where do you want to go next?"

"You pick this time," I said looking out of the window and up into the dark sky.

He was quiet before answering.

"It doesn't matter to me. Where ever you go, I'll go," he said finally.

I turned to look at him. I really had no idea where to go. I wasn't too particularly picky on where I wanted to go this time.

"Seriously, I don't know where to go," I said.

"I'll take you to the moon."

"The moon? Is that so?"

I sat on his lap.

"Yeah, the moon."

We were quiet for a while.

"What about Oklahoma?" I asked.

"What's in Oklahoma?"

"I'll be there."

"Oklahoma it is."


	7. Safe House

The next morning we left early. We spent most of the time on the road. It went by pretty quick since we had the boys to keep us company and we told them everything that happened while we were away. They were thrilled to hear all about it.

"Whoa, is that our house?" Hunter asked as we pulled into a long drive way.

The house was a large Southern style house with a large porch and lots of grass. There was a beautiful balcony that circled the entire second floor.. The garage was farther back enough for four cars. Both sets of buildings were white.

"Sure is," Kendall answered.

A couple hours later the moving trucks came by. Instantly, we got to work in moving in furniture. As the boys moved it in, I organized it inside the house.

"That goes in the living room!" I ordered as I came down the stairs. "Move that rug a little over or someone's going to trip."

The inside of the house was flawless. It had a smooth wooden floor and large spacious rooms. The high ceiling made the place even better. I had a feeling I was going to like this place a lot. I couldn't wait to have this whole place settled. By the end of the night, we had the living room, dining room and the kitchen set up. The rooms up stairs weren't done yet.

"I'm going in to town to get some water proof tarps," Kendall said. "Should I get dinner?"

"Yes, please," I said.

"Any suggestions?"

"Doesn't matter. Surprise me."

Hunter and Keeper went with their dad into town. I did some more organizing. Once I felt pleased with what the place looked like I sank into the arm chair in the living room. Just as I was about to relax, I heard the sound of canons or at least I thought they were canons. I jumped and hit the ground. Once I heard nothing more I rose to my feet.

I walked outside to find two large crates were in front of the house. I walked over to the large crates cautiously. I was afraid something would come out and attack me. I reached to my hip. Right, no gun. I sat on the porch waiting for the guys to return.

I saw the truck pull up the drive way. I stood.

"Hey, what's that?" Kendall asked nodding to the boxes.

"I don't know they came out of the sky," I said. He looked at me strangely.

"Well, let's take a look," he said. The four of us went to the first box and opened it.

"It's guns and ammo," I said pulling out a gun. It was loaded. Hunter and Keeper went to open the second box.

"More guns and a couple laptops."

I had a pretty good guess who sent us this equipment. Most likely Toby. He had a huge arsenal of guns, ammo, laptops, prepaid phones and other stuff necessary for us.

"It has a note," Keeper said raising a paper.

"What does it say?" Kendall asked.

" 'You'll need this' ," he read out loud. Kendall and I looked at each other. We were both pretty damn sure it had to be Toby. We brought in the crates and hauled them down into the basement. Kendall and I would figure out what to do with them later.

The four of us ate together in the kitchen. It had been a while since we all sat down and ate a meal together.

We set up blankets n the living to sleep for the night. It was a pretty warm night so we left the windows open so a gentle breeze could come in.

Kendall held me in his arms as I tried to fall asleep.

"Hey, Mom," came Keeper's voice from the dark.

"Yeah, Keep?" I asked.

"Will we be safe here?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"Because bad things always seem to happen."

I blinked. My heart ached to hear him say those words. He just didn't understand yet.

"It's not bad events. It's just the bad people are after me."

"What'd you do, Mom? Why do they want you dead so bad?"

"I disobeyed their rules. I dared to be different."

I waited for his response. In a couple minutes, I heard his deep breathing. He was asleep. Kendall breathed in heavily. I closed my eyes and in a few minutes myself I was out.

The next day we pulled in the furniture for the up stairs. It had six rooms and two bathrooms. We only needed three rooms but we filled in all the rooms just in case.

The back yard was wonderful. As far as we could see, that was our backyard. We had woods farther off in the land. That could be rather useful.

I home schooled Keeper and Hunter. We didn't want them to be noticeable to people in town. I let them go into town though. It wasn't fair to just keep them home all day.

"It's refreshing living out here," I said one evening as Kendall fired up the grill.

"It is," Kendall said.

"Do you think we'll ever go back?" Hunter asked.

"One day we will," I told him putting my hands on Keeper's shoulders. Keeper looked up at me and smiled hopefully.


	8. The Issue with Thayer

Later on that evening, Keeper and Hunter went into town. There was a carnival and they really wanted to go. We let them go on certain conditions. They had to call us every half hour and make sure not to talk to any one older then themselves for too long.

Kendall and I were kissing up on our room while they were gone. I knew what he was after. He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers in mine. The phone began to ring on my night stand. He took off my shirt and I pulled away breathlessly.

"What if it's my boys?" I asked.

He kissed me. "They called ten minutes ago." We continued kissing.

"They could be in trouble," I insisted.

"Doubt it."

The phone stopped ringing. We kept on kissing and he came over me. I wrapped my arms around his neck. A couple minutes later the phone began to ring again. Kendall pulled away, irritated.

"Who the hell could it be?" he asked as we sat up.

"Let me check," I said reaching to the phone.

"No, damn it, Elena!" he said angrily.

"It'll be quick, I promise," I said. I kissed him deeply and unbottoned his shirt. I pulled away and answered the phone.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, El," came Thayer's familiar voice.

"Oh, hi," I said. "How's it going?"

"Fine. How's it going with you guys?"

I had a feeling he wanted to actually talk. I didn't want to be rude but I was busy.

"Great, everyone's fine. Listen, I have to go. I'm kind of busy."

"Oh it's cool. I just wanted to let you know that the kids and I are planning to visit soon."

"Great, I'll call you later." We hung up. I turned my attention back to Kendall.

I took off his shirt and we continued kissing. We laid back down. He pulled away.

"No worries. It was just Thayer," I whispered.

"Screw Thayer," he muttered and unbuttoned my shorts.

Later on that night, we heard the boys come home. I lay on Kendall's chest listening to his heart beat. He had his arms around me. He hadn't said anything and I didn't want to say anything either. I wasn't sure if this was a good kind of silence yet.

"I don't want Thayer to come," he finally said. I could feel the rumble on his chest as he spoke.

"Why?" I asked getting up to look at him.

"Why do you think, El?"

"Don't be ridiculous! That was a long time ago before you and I were even together."

"It's not like he hasn't made it clear as to what he wants!"

"I don't want him! I only want you, nobody else."

I grabbed his hand and kissed his fingers. He had to get it through his head. Thayer was a one time thing years ago. Never have I paid attention to his advances on me. Ever. He had nothing to worry about.

"So when I left to New York-"

"He came over once just to check up on the boys and I. Nothing happened."

We gazed at each other. Why couldn't he just believe me? Thayer was just an old friend and nothing more. He needed to get that clear in his head but to make him understand is something more difficult.

"I love you, Kendall. You know that right?" I asked. "Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"

He shook his head.

"I love you too."

He held my face in his hands and we kissed deeply. I wanted him to have no doubt in his mind that he was all I needed and no one else. I never worried when he was in New York so he shouldn't be afraid to loose me me to Thayer.

The next day I called Thayer back to have a proper phone call with him. Just so I wouldn't step on any toes, I called him when Kendall was out of the house.

"Hey, El," came his familiar voice.

"Hi, sorry about yesterday. I was busy," I said.

"It's cool."

"So, when are you heading over?"

"In about three days if that's cool with you and Kendall."

"Yeah, it's totally fine."

"Everything okay with you and him, by the way?"

"Everything is great, Thay."

"Alright, well I'll see you soon."

"Bye."

We hung up. Well, that was strange. He was always up beat and ready to gossip with me. Today, he seemed to be rather off. That wasn't like him. I wanted to call him back to see if everything was alright with him but I decided not to. If it was serious he would have told me. Besides, he was coming in three days.

"Who was it?" Hunter asked as he came into the kitchen.

"It was Thayer. He's coming over in three days," I said.

"Really? Awesome! Can't wait," he said smiling.

"Mom! Another crate arrived!" Keeper said coming into the kitchen.

"It's probably the security system your father ordered," I said.

"It is," Kendall said coming in. "You guys want to help me set it up?" They agreed.

They went off to set them up around our property. I knew the boys would be excited to have company over. Thayer was Hunter's godfather after all.

The next day I started cleaning out the spare rooms. I wasn't sure who exactly was coming so I thought I'd rather be prepared for what ever happens.

As I walked to the staircase I went by a calendar. November 23rd. A shiver went up and down my spine. I recognized that date. The day I left OverSight. It's not something your forget easily. It's the day everything began. If I never left, no one would be after me but I would never have had Hunter and Keeper. I tore my eyes away and went down stairs. Dishes needed to be cleaned.

"How's Thayer getting here anyway?" Kendall asked me.

"I don't know," I said thoughtfully. "Thayer's a resourceful kind of guy. He'll get here somehow."

Then the security system went off. I looked out the living room window. A dark red SUV was coming up the drive way.

"Looks like Thayer's here," Kendall muttered.

"Smile, you look better with a smile," I said drying off my hands on my jeans. I kissed his cheek and turned off the alarm. I grabbed his hand and followed our boys out the door to greet our arriving guests.

Hunter and Keeper were already chatting away with Thayer and his kids Josh and Lauren. I expected to see his wife but no other person came out of the SUV.

"Glad you found the place," I said as I gave him a quick hug and scampered back to Kendall's side.

"Almost couldn't," Thayer said shaking hands with Kendall.

"Where's Marina? Didn't drag her along for the ride?" Kendall asked. Trust him to talk about the elephant in the room.

"She went to her mother's house for a week while we came to visit you guys," Thayer said.

"Come on, let's go inside," I said. We followed our kids in to the house.

"You picked the wrong vacation spot, Thay," Kendall told him. "Not much to see here."

"Well, Ohio can be pretty cold, Kendall," Thayer replied.


	9. Alone

We sat down in the kitchen. I made some coffee for the adults and hot chocolate for the younger ones. We told Thayer about the attack in Hawaii then the move to New York and my return to Hawaii to find my father. Then our disastrous return.

"Damn, so are you saying Kasey Knight is your father?" Thayer asked me.

"Yeah," I said taking a seat by Kendall. "He wasn't too thrilled to figure out who I was."

"Eliminators are supposed to be solitude agents," he told us. "No recruits to work with. The little interaction they had was with Kasim or the people they were assigned to kill."

"So, what do we do?" I asked. I sipped the coffee and the hot liquid burned my throat.

"Go into hiding," Thayer said. "Like the rest of us. You've been out in the open for too long."

Kendall agreed into going into hiding.

"We've been training Hunter and Keeper," I told him. "Just in case, you know."

"That's not a bad idea," he said looking out the window to monitor his kids outside with Hunter and Keeper. "I might do that when Josh and Lauren get a little older."

I looked over my shoulder to look out the window as well. Hunter was standing on the porch watching the younger kids play. Josh and Lauren were much younger than him. Josh was just a bit younger than Keeper and Lauren was about to turn ten. It was crazy how Josh resembled Thayer. I would imagine that's how Thayer would look like as a child. Lauren resembled more of Marina.

I left Kendall and Thayer to talk as I went outside. I closed the screen door behind me. I stepped outside and stood beside Hunter. He and I were about the same height. He still had a couple years to keep growing.

"You alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah, just a little bored," he responded. "I just want to hang with kids my age you know."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," I said. "I know it's difficult but we're only doing this for your own protection. You just have to make the best of it."

I kissed my son's cheek. He smiled a little.

"Call the kids in for lunch, will you?" I asked. "I made fish and salad and rice."

I went back inside and set the table in the dinning room.

The house felt more alive with so much chatter and laughter. Everyone ate happily and I grabbed a cake I had made earlier that morning for dessert. After dinner, Kendall and Thayer went to go see the garage and Keeper, Josh and Lauren went to go play down stairs in the basement.

I saw Hunter go into the living room to watch TV. I set the empty dishes in the sink. I cleaned my hands on a towel and went to follow him.

"I know how you feel, Hunter," I said sitting down with my hands on my lap.

"How?" he asked wearily. "You have dad and Thayer and Toby."

"And you have your brother, Lauren and Josh, Jen and Robbie."

"It's not the same."

"Why not? They were born into the same life as you with one exception. You were able to lead a normal life because your father and I made it so. They'll never understand that. But now you're entering their lifestyle now. You guys will always have that bond because of us and Toby and Thayer."

Hunter shrugged.

"You'll always have friends who will understand what you're going through. You have your father and I beat. You have a brother while we have none. Never once have I had a female for a friend, ever."

"What about OverSight?" he asked.

"Not even," I said with a chuckle. "I didn't have a chance with your father playing favorites and all the other girls wanting to kill for his attention."

I managed to get a smile out of him.

"I can't talk to Paula or Marina because they married into the danger. They weren't in OverSight like I was. You know what I'm saying?"

I patted his arm and went to go wash the dishes. Some time later, I heard the TV turn off and Hunter came to join me in the kitchen.

"Tell me more about your rouge days with dad," he said. He took the soapy plate out of my hands and rinsed it off. As I soaped the dishes, he rinsed them off and put them in a drying rack.

"Well, we lived with Toby for a while," I said. "Before you were born. His house was kind of like our home base. Thayer was going solo, he thought he was cool for working alone."

Hunter smiled.

"In the beginning we were after these black computer chips to take down Kasim. It held all OverSight's secrets and everything we needed to destroy them."

"Your father wasn't always on my side you know? Before it was Thayer and I. Your dad was in charge of finding me and bringing me back to OverSight. He had no intention to do that, he just wanted me home and to know I was safe."

"So one time we faced each other," I continued. "I tried not hurting him but I had to make my message clear to OverSight that no matter who they sent after me I meant business."

"So, what'd you do?" Hunter asked me.

"I shot him in the leg," I said simply.

Hunter laughed.

"And that hurt too," Kendall said coming behind me put his arms around my waist. "But I forgave her. After all, she's the one giving birth."

I swatted him away but he didn't let me go. He kissed my cheek obnoxiously and left us alone. Hunter laughed and shook his head.


	10. The Reason He Came

The next day we all went into town. The kids went along store to store with Thayer while Kendall and I walked around separately from the rest.

"Thayer told me about him and Marina having problems," Kendall told me.

"Really?" I asked surprised. "But she can't leave Thayer, she won't be safe."

Thayer had never mentioned having problems with Marina, ever. I wondered what would happen. I linked my arm to his.

"He doesn't know what to do," Kendall said.

"Fix things with Marina, obviously," I said at once. "OverSight would target her if they knew she wasn't with Thayer any more."

"That's what I told him plus the kids. They'll be in danger too because Marina would take them with her. He has to fix things up."

"Poor Thayer," I mumbled.

He wrapped an arm around me.

"I feel bad that at first I didn't want him here," he admitted looking down at me. I smiled up at him. I was glad to hear he regretted it.

I kissed his lips and we continued walking.

We caught up to Thayer and the kids and returned to our house. We stayed at home and chilled for the rest of the day. Later on that night, we got ready for bed. As I came to set the security system I found Thayer in the kitchen sitting there. I walked over.

"Get some rest," I said pouring myself a glass of water.

"Can't," he said. "I got too much stuff on my mind."

"Kendall told me about you and Marina having problems. I hope you two work it out," I said. "You'll make the right choice."

"Easier said than done," he said. "I don't know what went wrong." He sounded frustrated.

"I guess you guys just fell out of love," I said sadly. "Did she cheat on you or something?"

"No, nothing like that. We just drifted apart. We're splitting up for good, El."

"What about Josh and Lauren?"

"They'll go back and forth with Marina and I. El, can I tell you something?"

"Sure," I said. I couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"I never loved Marina. I mean I did when I first met her but then I don't know. She always knew I wasn't giving it my all."

I was afraid to ask. "Why weren't you?"

"You and I both know the answer to that one."

"Thayer, I'm happy with Kendall."

"Don't you think I don't know that? I know Kendall's paranoid with me about you. He's made that loud and clear for me. I know when I've lost. I should have stayed with you all those years ago. Things would be different for everyone."

"Sleep on it, Thay. You'll feel better."

I went upstairs and changed into my pajamas. Kendall was sitting on the bed waiting for me. I didn't even notice he was awake. I held his face and kissed him deeply. We laid down and I pulled away. He held me close and fell asleep.


	11. Invasion

The next day Kendall and Thayer decided to go for a walk in the backyard. They had a lot of ground to cover since we had a couple acres. The kids watched a movie. I made a large bowl of buttered popcorn for them and poured drinks. I set it on the coffee table and they immediately went for it. I grabbed a couple beers for when the men returned and I popped one open for myself.

I stood behind them and saw that they choose an action comedy movie. If only the knew stuff like that didn't happen in real fights. I crossed my arms. Then all of a sudden the security system went off. I quickly checked from the back window. I could still see Kendall and Thayer. They couldn't have hit one of the security points.

I went over to the front. I gasped. I discovered what had triggered the alarm. A rather large army on foot was making it's way up to the house. I ran up the stairs. This was not good. I pulled out a large machine gun stored in in one of the guest room closets. I pulled it out to the balcony.

"Hunter!" I yelled as I came inside the house for ammo. "There are guns under the porch in the back. Go get them and take them to your Dad and Thayer!"

"But it's dark out," he explained.

"Now!" I screamed down the stairs. "And take everyone with you. Get out of the house now!"

"But-"

"Hunter! Now!"

I heard him come up the stairs as I set up the large gun.

"Mom, what's going on?" he asked.

"Stay away!" I snapped as he tried to come into the room. "Do as I told you. Get out of the house and find your dad. Listen to his orders. The others are your responsibility!"

He nodded seriously and ran back down the stairs. I looked through the scope to see better. It was definitely OverSight operatives. I heard the door shut. Good, the kids were gone. This way I could shoot at will and not worry about them. I grabbed my belt and a gun. I quickly went back to the massive machine gun.

I started shooting at them. I killed the entire first couple rows of operatives before they realized it was I who shot at them from up here. They shot back at me. Once the machine gun was through I went down stairs.

As I opened the front door I realized how dangerously close they were to the house. There was no way I was going to let them run me out of this house. I have had enough. This was my home and I wasn't going to run away because they decided to show up. My house, my rules.

They shot at me and I hid behind a lawn chair. I shot at them. I made a run for the back yard. Bullets ran past my head but I managed not to get hit. I'd have to make it to the woods. I'd have an advantage if I got to the woods in this dark. Just as I did, someone grabbed my arm. I was about to scream when who ever it was covered my mouth.

"Shh, don't scream! It's me," hissed Thayer.

I listened and operatives ran into the forest attempting to follow my trail. Once we heard them well off, Thayer let me go.

"I came to get you," he said. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. I was just on my way to find you guys," I said. "That was the whole OverSight fleet! We have to kill them all tonight."

"El, if you haven't noticed we're out numbered by a lot. We won't be able to kill them off alone. We need to send some protocol to Toby and Marlon."

"No! We have to do this now, tonight!"

I ran off into the dark. How could Thayer not want to finish this once and for all? We are this close. If he wasn't willing to fight, I was. He could call for help all he wanted but it wouldn't make a difference.

I spotted some operatives up ahead. I couldn't shoot them or it would give away my position. I would have to kill hand to hand. It was the most silent way. I pulled out a blade on my belt. I quickly caught up to one and severed his neck and he fell to the ground. I continued quietly with out any one figuring out what I was doing. Twenty bodies later Thayer had caught up to me.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked me angrily.

"I'm trying to end this battle," I snapped back. "You could help out!"

He looked at me exasperated.

"Alright, go!" he whispered.

I took off again. I followed the line of operatives and with Thayer's help it went by quicker. I saw a small group of three. Being as successful as I was, I thought I could take down these three operatives easily.

I sneaked up behind them. I turned one around and punched one squarely in the face. He stumbled back and the two others turned and came at me. We had our fair few of punches and blows. One kicked me in the stomach and I stumbled back.

The one I punched approached me as another grabbed my arms.

"Well, well," said the one that had kicked me. "Lookie what we got here. The famous Elena Knight. She don't seem that terrifying, does she boys?"

I tried to wrench myself free but that wasn't happening. They had me held pretty tight.

"Just like her father," he said again. "A horrible temper and a crude fighter. Must run in the family."

"I'm nothing like my father," I said darkly. "First chance I get, I'm killing you, all of you."

"Well, see how far that gets you," he told me.

"Watch your back," I suggested.

Two shots rang out and the two operatives holding me captive hit the ground. I turned to see who had freed me. It was Kendall! I couldn't have been more relieved.

The one who kicked couldn't have been more surprised. Before he could react Kendall shot him three times in the chest.

He hugged me.

"Stay away from my wife," he told the dead body and kissed my head. He grabbed my hand and we ran off together. With his shots ringing out that must have given our position away. Some operatives were coming to check out what happened. Kendall and I hid behind some trees. He held me close as we waited for them to go.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

"Shh," he muttered. "More are coming."

I tore away from him. It was two more operatives. I broke a spine and stabbed one in the heart. Two down and another million to go. I looked back at Kendall. He came over to me and grabbed my hand.

"I love you," Kendall said and kissed my cheek and we ran off together again.

Up ahead we could hear gun shots as if a battle was going on. We came to a stop behind a tree. He held me close and checked looking to see what was happening.


	12. Hunter & Keeper

"It's Hunter. And Keeper," Kendall said happily almost excited. "They're fighting back with Thayer."

"What!" I snapped. "How could Thayer let them fight!"

"I told them to grab a gun."

"Kendall!"

"Chill out, I've been training with Hunter for two years. Keeper's pretty good too."

I was terrified for their lives. If they both got out of this alive I planned to ground them for an eternity and beyond if possible. And not to mention slap Kendall a few times for bringing them into battle.

At the same time I felt a little hopeful. We had two extra pair of hands fighting back. If they were any good like their father we could actually win this!

I took a quick glance to see what was happening. He was right. Hunter was hiding behind a fallen tree protecting Josh and Lauren. Opposite him was Keeper behind a tree. Both of them had a deadly aim and precision which reminded me of Kendall.

Not far off to Hunter's right was Thayer behind a tree as well shooting back at them. This was excellent! We had herded them into a trap. The amount of operatives had gone down dramatically. I was feeling lucky we could actually win this.

"I'll take them from that side," Kendall said nodding over to our right closer to Keeper.

"Alright be careful,"I said. He gave a nod and hurried off. I pushed myself closer to the tree. I pulled out my gun and started shooting at them. Their numbers started decreasing as we all had them surrounded.

Out the middle of no where, Lauren dashed out from Hunter's side and run over to her father. The poor girl gave me a heart attack.

"Lauren no!" Thayer yelled to his daughter. "Stay with Hunter!"

She was already half way to him. One operative made turned his aim on Lauren. If I tried to reach her in time I still wouldn't have made it. I'd have to cut my way through the OverSight boundaries. Keeper shot him in the chest and Lauren made it safely with Thayer.

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw two flee the scene. I hesitated and followed. I couldn't afford to let any one get away. This would end tonight and I would make sure of it. No survivors on their side meant freedom for us. It was my father and a follower of his.

"Knight!" I yelled and shot his follower in the back. I shot him three more times and slowly walked over to Knight.

"Very good, Elena," he said turning to look at me. "You've got me alone, isolated from everyone else. I hope this isn't a cry for attention."

I felt my blood start to simmer. He turned to look at me with his hands up showing me I was at his mercy. I kept my gun at the ready. I'd kill him. I'd have to.

"Kill me, Elena, go on ahead kill your father," he told me ruthlessly. "You really want to know how you came to be?"

"Mom!" Hunter said coming over.

"Stay away Hunter!" I said my eyes still on Knight.

He turned to look at Hunter, his grandson.

"My, my I didn't know I had grandchildren," Knight said. "Takes after me I see."

"Shut up!" I said trying to keep his attention on me.

"Mom, who is this?" Hunter asked.

"No one, Hunt," I said. "He's no one."

"Kasim didn't teach you manners, did he? I told him I should have raised you myself. You could've been the best assassin."

I had enough of his talk. I smacked his head with my gun and he swatted at my legs to trip me. I punched him in the stomach.

"Mom!" I heard Hunter yell.

"Don't come any closer!" I said dodging Knight's blows. I had to admit for an old man he wasn't rusty at all. He had me on the ground. This man was an excellent fighter, no doubt about it.

Three consecutive shots rang out. Knight fell to the ground beside me.. Hunter came to help me up. He and I hugged tightly.

"This doesn't get you off the hook for going into battle like that," I said ruffling his hair.

"Come off it Mom!" he said laughing. I smiled too and hugged him again. I had to admit he was pretty great. He was deadly like Kendall and I. Even though I was totally against it, I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in my son.


	13. Winning at a Price

We walked back to the others. All the OverSight operatives were dead. Every single one of them. Their bodies laid on the ground and blood was spilled every where. My heart skipped a beat. Something was wrong. Keeper, Kendall and Josh were standing around Thayer and Lauren. Hunter and I ran forward to them.

Thayer was holding his dead daughter in his arms. His shoulders shook violently as he cried. Kendall held a sobbing Josh in his arms. This could not be happening. My hands flew up to my mouth. Just seeing him made me die inside.

"Oh my God," I whispered. A little pool of blood trickled on to the dirt. My own body felt numb and unreal. I sank down onto the ground.

"Thayer," I said weakly before a sob swelled into my throat.

He didn't respond. I scooted over to him and wrapped an arm around him.

"Thayer?" I was crying hard by now. It literally broke my heart to see Lauren dead and Thayer grieving like this. I'd fight OverSight another ten years if I had to. I didn't want it to cost me this.

"Let her go," I pleaded. "She's gone."

Thayer didn't respond. Kendall reached out to me.

"Let him grieve," he told me.

I got up and and went into Kendall's open arm. I cried on his shoulder. Keeper came into my arms to cry too and Hunter tried to comfort Thayer. We stood there hours on end waiting hoping it was all just a lie but it wasn't.

The sun started to come up and I almost felt sick. It was over and I hated it. Thayer and Marina didn't deserve this. It wasn't fair.

Hunter and Kendall made a bonfire to burn all the OverSight bodies. I gazed at the fire angry. Hell wasn't enough of a punishment for who ever killed Lauren.

Josh and Thayer preserved Lauren's body to have it cremated later and given to Marina. How would Thayer be able to tell Marina? She'd never let him live this down. She would probably never want to leave Josh in Thayer's hands.

Once all the bodies were in the fire we went inside to wash up. Thayer didn't say a word. He didn't say anything much after that. I was worried about him. Would he ever be okay? We watched him and Josh leave.

"Will Thayer be okay?" Hunter asked a couple days after Thayer had left our house. Kendall had managed to fix the major repairs in the house. But he wouldn't be able to repair all the damages. Not all the emotional ones at least.

"He will be, eventually," I said. "He'll learn to live with it somehow."

I walked over to the stair case.

"Mom," Keeper said.

"Yeah?" I asked. I turned to look at my sons.

"We did good right?" Keeper asked. "You aren't mad that we joined the fight." My heart sank a little.

"No, of course not," I said rushing over to them quickly. "You guys did wonderful! If it wasn't for you two who knows if we would have won or not. Those were real enemies. I can't be any prouder."

"But Lauren," Hunter started.

"OverSight didn't care who got killed," I said cutting him off. "Lauren must have been hit by a stray bullet." That didn't seem to comfort them much. They just looked miserable.

"Who knew you two would be great gunmen," I said and hugged them tightly."Even though everything in me wanted to strangle your father but I knew you two would be okay."

Keeper kissed my cheek and went up stairs to his room. I went into the itching to get started on lunch. What could I cook up today? I wasn't in the mood to cook. I just wanted to relax.

"Thayer probably hates me," said a voice behind me. I turned to find Hunter sitting on the stool near the island in the kitchen.

"No one blames you, it was all OverSight," I protested. There was no way Lauren's death was his fault. Nothing in this world could tell me different.

"If Lauren didn't leave her spot with me none of this would have happened!" Hunter said.

"No, no matter what you say I know Thayer will never blame you," I said. "It was a horrible accident."

He didn't look convinced. I hated seeing him taking on so much on himself. He didn't make this happen. He just needed to be reassured that everything would be okay.

"Tell you what," I offered. "I'll make lunch. Then you can video call Thayer and chat with him for a while."

He smiled a little and gave a nod.

"Can we have pizza?" he asked.

"You got it," I said. He went up stairs to his room.

I called in to order a pizza. We haven't done this in ages. It felt pretty good to order in a pizza. I went all out and ordered two large pizza, bread sticks, cheese sticks and a cake. After I hung up I pulled out some plates from the cabinet. I noticed Kendall standing outside. He seemed to be staring out into the property. I went outside.

"Hunter feels pretty lousy about the whole Lauren thing," I said. "I told him he could call Thayer later."

"That's fine."

Kendall turned to look at me. He reached to me. I took his hand and he pulled me closer to him. He wrapped his arms around me. In a long time, I felt safe and moderately happy. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent.

"This is a great feeling," he muttered.

"Freedom?" I asked.

"No, you in my arms," he said. I looked up at him and smiled. Trust him to lighten the mood. I chuckled a little. "Well, we did it, El. It's finally over. We won."

"It doesn't feel much like a victory," I mumbled.

"You're right it doesn't right now but once we walk down the street without a price tag on our hands I think it'll be worth it."

He had a point there. We were free. No crazy nut case trying to find us or sneak attacks on our homes any more. That would feel rewarding.

"I just hope Thayer sees it the same way," I said. Kendall's phone rang in his pocket. He grabbed it and answered it on speaker phone.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hey, Kenny boy! How's it going?" came Toby's familiar voice.

"Fine just here with Elena. You?" he asked.

"Oh you know around. Kinda in the mood to celebrate."

"Celebrate? What are you celebrating?"

"Well come out to the front yard to find out," he said and hung up. I looked up at Kendall confused. We went to go see what Toby was talking about. We walked over to the front yard.

I couldn't believe it! Three cars were parked outside. Toby, Thayer and Marlon had driven over to our house with their kids. Marina was here with Thayer. They must have worked things out. I ran over and hugged Toby first. I heard the door slam and my sons ran out to come into the commotion. I couldn't believe everyone was here. It had been so long that we all got together like this.

"Are we too late for a party?" Marlon asked us.

"You're just in time," Kendall said. I smiled and ran over to hug him next. He picked me up and put me in the air happily. As I came down I kissed him. He kissed me back. We pulled away. We lead our friends into our home to celebrate the accomplishment of a life time.

We won, finally.


End file.
